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Brief Synopsis

Two crooks obsessed with Hollywood crime movies plot a big heist.

Odile, who lives in the Paris suburbs as an au pair girl in the home of her aunt, Madame Victoria, enrolls in an English language school and meets Franz, a young hoodlum. She casually mentions that her aunt keeps a large sum of money in a cupboard for her friend Monsieur Stolz. Franz talks of the money to his friend Arthur, who wrangles an introduction to Odile, infatuates her, and persuades her to help them steal the money. While checking on the amount, Odile forgets to replace her aunt's coat over the stash, and the money is gone when the trio arrives to steal it. Arthur beats Odile, who becomes disenchanted with him; and Franz, who loves her, is disturbed by his friend's violence. Arthur's criminal family hear of the affair; and to prevent Arthur's uncle from reaching the money before they do, the three return to the house the next day. When Madame Victoria interrupts them, she is locked in a closet and gagged. The three would-be thieves fail to find the money, and Arthur frees Madame Victoria to question her, but she has apparently suffocated. They flee, but Arthur, realizing that the money must be hidden in the dog kennel, returns on the pretext of finding out whether Madame Victoria is really dead. He finds the money, but his uncle arrives and they are both killed in a shootout. Monsieur Stolz drives up and finds the money just as Madame Victoria, who had only fainted, comes out to meet him. Franz and Odile escape to South America. [In bits of action, the characters parody Hollywood films, and a sequel is promised in CinemaScope and Technicolor. Godard, narrating the film, breaks into the action to explain the characters' feelings.]